American baseball player
Baseball player
Michael David Neu
(born March 9, 1978) is an American former
pitcher
who played in
Major League Baseball
(MLB) from 2003 to 2004, and is the current head baseball coach of the
California Golden Bears
. Neu played
college baseball
at the
University of Miami
for coach
Jim Morris
from 1997 to 1999. He served as the head coach for the
Pacific Tigers
in 2016 and 2017.
Early life and college career
[
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]
Raised in
Napa, California
, Neu attended
Vintage High School
where he set Monticello Empire League records for career wins (21) and strikeouts (196). As a senior in 1996, he was first-team All-State, All-Region and MEL Player of the Year with a 10?1 record, a 0.64 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 77.0 innings. Neu was also MEL Player of the Year as a junior. Neu earned a master's degree in Physical Education from
Ball State University
in 2011.
[1]
As a player at the
University of Miami
, Neu had a stellar 1999 campaign and helped the Hurricanes capture the
College World Series
title with a 6?5 victory over
Florida State University
in the championship game. He finished the year 3?1 with a 2.94 ERA and tallied 110 strikeouts in 67.0 innings, earning
Collegiate Baseball
All-America honors. Neu led the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (14.8) and was selected to the All-College World Series team with three saves and appearances in all four of Miami's games at the CWS. Neu had transferred to Miami from
Sacramento City College
wherein 1998 he was the Northern California Pitcher of the Year, the Bay Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year, and a Junior College All-American while going 15?0 with a 1.44 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 108.0 innings. He was named MVP of the 1998 Cal State Championship Final Four after throwing 11.0 innings with no earned runs and notching a win and a save in the state tournament.
[1]
In 1998 and 1999, he played
collegiate summer baseball
with the
Brewster Whitecaps
of the
Cape Cod Baseball League
.
[2]
[3]
Playing career
[
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]
Drafted out of the
University of Miami
in the 29th round of the
1999 Major League Baseball Draft
by the
Cincinnati Reds
. Neu spent 4 years in the Reds' organization making his way up to Triple-A, before he was claimed in the
2002
Rule 5 draft
by the Oakland Athletics. Neu played 32 games for the Athletics in
2003
and had a 3.64
ERA
. On December 13, 2003, he was traded to the Florida Marlins with
Bill Murphy
for
Mark Redman
. In
2004
, Neu played for the Triple-A
Albuquerque Isotopes
, but struggled with a 6.57 ERA. In
spring training
2005
, he was released by the Marlins and on April 6, he signed with the
Los Angeles Dodgers
. Due to injuries, Neu did not appear in an MLB game for the Dodgers and became a
free agent
after the season.
Coaching career
[
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]
Neu was the head baseball coach at
Diablo Valley College
(DVC) from 2009 to 2011, leading his team to an 87?41 mark (.680) with two Big 8 Conference titles in three years. His 2011 squad was ranked No. 1 in Northern California and his pitching staff led all the California Community Colleges with a 2.13 team ERA. Prior to taking over the reins at DVC, Neu was the team's pitching coach for two seasons. Additionally, he spent time as an associate scout for both the
Kansas City Royals
and the
Atlanta Braves
before moving into the coaching ranks.
[4]
In four seasons as the pitching coach at the
University of California, Berkeley
from 2012 to 2015, Neu helped shape the Bears' pitching staff into one of the stronger units in the
Pac-12 Conference
as the Bears finished fourth in the conference in ERA in 2015 with a team ERA of just 3.03. With Neu's pitchers leading the way, the Bears pushed their way into the top-25 during the year and made their way to the finals of the Texas A&M Regional in the NCAA tournament.
[4]
Neu left Cal to become head coach at
University of the Pacific
in
Stockton, California
, where he served for two seasons. On July 5, 2017, Neu was named head coach at Cal, taking over for the 2018 season.
[5]
Head coaching record
[
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]
Statistics overview
Season
|
Team
|
Overall
|
Conference
|
Standing
|
Postseason
|
Pacific Tigers
(
West Coast Conference
)
(2016?2017)
|
2016
|
Pacific
|
22?30
|
12?15
|
6th
|
|
2017
|
Pacific
|
18?35
|
6?21
|
9th
|
|
Pacific:
|
40?65
|
18?36
|
|
California Golden Bears
(
Pac-12 Conference
)
(2018?present)
|
2018
|
California
|
32?22
|
16?14
|
5th
|
|
2019
|
California
|
32?20
|
17?11
|
4th
|
NCAA Regional
|
2020
|
California
|
5?11
|
0?0
|
|
Season canceled due to
COVID-19
|
2021
|
California
|
29?26
|
15?15
|
7th
|
|
2022
|
California
|
29?27
|
14?16
|
7th
|
|
2023
|
California
|
24?28
|
12?18
|
T?8th
|
|
2024
|
California
|
34?18
|
17-13
|
T?5th
|
|
California:
|
185?152
|
91?87
|
|
Total:
|
225?217
|
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
|
Personal life
[
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]
Neu has a wife, Nicole, and two sons; Damon and Maddax.
See also
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References
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External links
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